Power-transmission gearing.



PATENTED JULY 23, 1907.

' H. 0. FLETCHER. POWER TRANSMISSION GEARING.

' APPLIUATION FILED JULY 30, 1906- SSHEETS-SHEET 1,

a on W Y W MU M v, B N y J S g \& mm nm S o Q 0 SM k 5 5 mm \Q s A 5 0m 5 F Q W W m W aw No. 860,649. PATENTED JULY 23, 1907.

H. O. FLETCHER.

POWER TRANSMISSION GEARING. APPLICATION I'ILBD'JULY so, 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED JULY 23, 1907. H. 0,1PLBTcH1-m. POWER TRANSMISSION GBARING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1906.

3 SHEET SHEBT' 3.

HENRY 0. FLETCHER, OF HYDE PARK, MASSACHUSETTS.

POWER-TRANSMISSION GE ARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

l atenteci July 23, 1907.

Application filed July 30,1906. Serial No- 328,286;

To all IlflOIIL it may concern:

lie it known that l, HENRY O. FLETCHER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hyde Park, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Power Transmission Gearing, of which the following description, in corinection with accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to power transmission gearing, and while adapted to general use in a variety of workshop situations, it is particularly intended for driving automobiles and the like, where the action is required to be simple to operate and understand, and yet must be positive and require little movement on the part of the operator.

-ln automobile mechanism it is usual to maintain the drive shaft at high speed, the connection being usuaily continuous through one line of shaiting, and accordingly considerable shock and wear on the parts is experienced in changing the speed from the high speed drive shaft to a countershaftor other mechanism and also a more or less complicated movement on the part of the operator is required.

Acco dingly my mechanism utilizcsthe niainshaft for. the high speed driving of the vehicle and transmits the other speeds through a counter shaft, without shock, by means of automatically adjusting clutches and engaging gears. the coupling or shifting of the mechanism from one speed to another being accomplished by hand lever connections, which are so arranged Illiltolil) one kind and amplitude of movement is required for all speeds and operations of the mechanism. I

Further constriu-lional details and the advantages of my invention will be pointed out more at length in the course of the following description, reference bc ing had to the accompanying drawings, in which 1 ha vc shown a prcferred embodiment of my invention.

ln the drawings, Figure l is a top plan view of the main operating parts of the apparatus, the top of the casing and connected parts being omitted; Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the shipper rod and adjacent parts, showing their relation to the shaft and countci shaft; Fig. 3 is a cross section view similar to Fig. 2, showing furtherdetails of the mechanism; Fig.4 is an end elevation looking at the operating mechanism from the lcfl, Fig. l, the connecting yoke of the operating lever being broken away for clearness of illustration; Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the dial and pointer; Fig. (3 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 4 viewed in side clcvation from the left Fig. 4; Figs. 7 and 8 are scctional details of the clutch mcchanisln at the main shaft and at the counter shaft respectively, and Fig. 9 isa sectional cud view of the detail of the clutch mechanism shown in Fig. 7.

.lournaled in a suitable frame composed of a lower part l and an upper part 2 connected by screws as at 3, 4 and having transverse journal webs 5, 6 is a main drive shaft 7, a secondary shaft or counter shaft 8 and. a work shaft 9, the main shaft 7 terminating at 10 in the end 01" the work shaft 9, the latter forming a bearing to keep the shaft 7 in proper alinement therewith. A medium speed gear 11 and a low speed gear 12 are fast on the shaft 7 to be engaged respectively at desired times by gears 13, 14 loose on the shaft 8, and the work shaft 9 hasfast thereon a gear 15 to be engaged when desired by a gear 16 on the secondary shaft 8 for transmitting to said work shaft the medium or low speed of the above mentioned mechanism. An automatic clutch operating mechanism 17 serves to directly clutch the high'speed drive shaft 7 with the work shaft 9, through any suitable form 'of clutch, a cone 18 being herein shown for fitting a recess 19 in the gcar l5. The work shaft is also provided with a fixed gear 2f) to be engaged bya reverse gear 21 slidingly nminted on a stub shaft 22 journaled in the frame and self-adapted to engage a gear 23 fast on the secondary shaft ll the aforesaid mechanism is controlled by the operation of a sliding rock shaft 24 actuated by a handle 25, all as will presently be describedv Referring now to the detailed construction of the clutch operating mechanisms, ctc., pivoted at 26 in a,

collar 27 fast on the secondary shaft 8 is one or more pairs of links 28 of one or more toggles or knuckle joint levers (there being only one toggle as herein shown), whose opposite link 29 is pivoted at 30 to a sleeve 31 free to slide-on said shaft 8 but keyed thereto to rotate there with for driving said shaft, as will presently appear. The links 28 pass through a laterally shiftable grooved collar or actuator 32, being engaged on thcir outer surfaces by rolls 33 mounted in the right hand face of said collar, sce Figs. 1 and 8, so that when an arm 34 of the rock shaft 24 occupies the groove 35 of sai d collar. longitudinal movement of said shaft 24causes the collar to move to the right Fig. 1, and at once shifts and firmly holds the sleeve 31 so as to bring the gear 13, which is mounted on said sleeve, slightly into engagement with the medium speed gear 11 of the drive shaft. The gear 13 is in threaded engagement with the fine threaded end 36 of said sleeve 31 and is normally maintained in its left hand position as shown in Fig. l. by a spring, herein shown as a flat convolute spring 37, which is so cured to a pin 38 in a recess on the inner side of th e gear- 13 and at its opposite cud to a pin 39 in a recess on the inner side of a clutch cone 40, which cooperates with the conical recess of the gear 13 to constitute a driving clutch for the secondary shaft 8. The clutch cone 40 is free to siide'on the shaft 8 and is secured adjustably by bolts 41 to a flange collar 42 fast on said shaft 8, said collar 42 and clutch cone 10 being normally hcld apart by a spring 43 retained adjustably within said collar 42 by a nut 44 (see Fig. 8) threaded on a projecting end 45 of the clutch member 40. Thus when the sleeve 31 is shifted to the right Fig. 1 sufficiently to slightly engage the gear 13 with the gear 11 the fast rotary movement of the latter is immediately communicated to the gear 13, which instantly travels forward on the threads- 36 against the resistance of spring 37 until it couples with the friction clutch member 40, which however does not take all the shock directly but itself yields forward to the right'by reason of the spring 43. However, when the surface of the clutch member 40 comes in contact with the surface of flanged collar 42 the clutch member 40 becomes rigidly engaged with the gear 13. This construction entirely eliminates the objectionable shock commonly experienced by too quick an engagement of the clutch inrunning a usual automobile.

The reverse sliding movement of the rock shaft 24 operates through the arm 34 to shift the actuator 32 back to the left, whereupon the toggle links 28, 29 are broken or pulled outwardly by a spring 46 secured to said toggle links adjacent the knuckle at one end, said spring at its opposite end being secured to an arm 47 projecting from the sleeve 31. This operates to pull the sleeve 31 to the left and as soon as the gear 13 escapes from engagement with the gear 11 the convolute spring 37 unscrews the same until 2. lug 48 on the gear 13 engages a shoulder 49 on said sleeve, thereby holding the gear,13 free to be readily moved forward for the next coupling operation The collar 42 serves the same purpose as the collar 27 for an exactly similar set of mechanism for cooperating with the low speed gear12 of the drive shaft, an actuator 50 having its groove 51 engaged by an arm 52 of the shaft 24'for shifting the gear 14 i and connected parts, which being exactly the same as already explained, will need no further description.

To couple the'work shaft 9 with the counter shaft 8 I have provided a laterally shiftable actuator 53 normally held against a collar 54 fast on the shaft 8, hav

ing operating mechanism substantially the same as set forth in my Patent No. 826,022 dated July 17, 1906, said mechanism consisting of a hub 55 extending to the right from the gear 16, and a shouldered boss 56 extending to the left therefrom and all slidable longitudinally of the shaft 8 when actuated by the part 53, a spring 57 being provided for returning the gear, a spring 58 being interposed to hold the parts normally in retracted position as shown in Fig. l, and the power being communicated from the shaft 8 through a flange 59 fast on said shaft and coupled by pins 60 to a flange 61 on the threaded hub 55, said flange 6i. and hub 55 being keyed slidably to the shaft 8. The actuator 53 has a groove 62 to be engaged by an arm 6.? on the rock shaft 24. So likewise the reverse gear 21, already explained, carries a groove 64 to be engaged by an arm 65 on said rock shaft 24. This arrangement allows the I countershaft to be entirely disengaged frofn the power and work shafts when they, are running at high speed.

The rock shaft 24, opposite the clutch mechanism' 17 is provided with an enlargement 66 having a recess 67 in one side, located, when the parts are as shown in Fig. 1, to come between two ratchet wheels 68, 69 loose on the main drive s aft 7, see Figs. 1 and 7. Between said ratchet wheels is a smooth faced double cone ring 70, carrying small pinions 7l in mesh with the threaded engagement at 74. If the ratchet wheel annular gear teeth 72, 73 on said ratchet wheels 68, 69 respectively, said ring being slidably keyed to the shaft 7 and also connected to the ratchet wheels 68, 69 by flanges 6" 69 so asto be free to revolve on said flanges but compelled to slide longitudinally therewith. The ratchet wheel 69 is in threaded engagement with the-drive shaft, as indicated at 74 and operates against an annular plate 75 (ball bearings 76 preferably being interposed) slidingly connected with the hub 77 of the conical clutch member 18 already mentioned, by bolts 78, being adjustable by nuts. A spring 79 is interposed between the hub 77 and the plate 75, being capable of adjustment by a nut 80. The hub of the clutch member 18 is slidingly mounted on the drive shaft but compelled to rotate therewith by means of a slot and pin connection, the slot being shown as in the shaft at 8], and the pin being shown at 82 as ex- 7 tending through the shaft and hub. The gear 15 has a conical recess 19-to receive the conical clutch member 18.

Arranged above the two ratchet wheels 68, 69' are pawls 84, 85 adapted to engage with one or the other recess 67 in the enlargement 66 of the rock shaft 24. v

-Said pawls are normally depressed by springs 86, and

excepting when permitted to fall by the movement of the recess 67 beneath lugs 87 on said pawls, the latter are maintained constantly out of engagement with the ratchet wheels. Each pawl carries on its inner side a roll 88 preferably slidiugly supported by a-spring 89, whose position is determined by stops 90, 91,82, projecting from the adjacent pawl as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Thus when the rock shaft 24 is shifted and rocked to the proper position to bring its recess 67 beneath one or the other of the pawls, said pawl instantly drops into engagement with the corresponding' ratchet wheel, whose rotation is thereby stopped,

of said ratchet Wheels according to the position of the which causes the ratchet wheels to be shifted in one,

direction or the other on the main shaft by reason of 69 is stopped by the engagement therewith of its pawl 85, theresult is t at said ratchet wheel is caused to travel along the bread 74 to the right of the shaft, which operates'to clutch the main shaft E-with the work shaft 9 by the engagement of the cl, tch mcn 1- ber 18 with the recess 19 of the gear 15.- i If on the other hand, the ratchet wheel 68 is engaged by its pawl 84 so that it is thereby stopped, the result is that the epicyclic gears 71, which are positively driven by the engagement of their ring support with the drive shaft, operates to give the ratchet wheel 69 (which acts as a nut with relation to the shaft 7) a reverse movement, thereby moving the same back to the left Fig. l, so as to release the clutch member 18 from drivingengagemcnt with the gear 15, the spring 83 being interposed to held said clutch member out of engagement. As the ratchet wheels 68 and 69 move laterally in either direction, the inclined surface of the ring 70 which is adjaccnt'to' the lower or working pawl, engages the roll 88 carried by said pawl and gradually lifts the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, so that as the ratchet wheel rotates the limit of its movement th pawl becomes entirely disengaged and as soon as the pawl escapes from engagement with the teeth of its ratchet 'wheel'thespring support of said Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a main shaft. secondary shaft and a work shaft, cooperating mechanism on said main shaft and secondary shaft for driving the latter by the former either at medium speed or at low speed as desired, coilperaiing means on said sec-.

ondary shaft and said work shaft for driving the latter by the former, and shipping mechanism provided with means for simultaneously coupling together the work shaft and secondary shaft and. also the main shaft and t'x'O other shaft, said two gears being the secondary shaft at either speed desired.

2. An apparatus of. the kind described, comprising a main shaft, secondary shaft and a work shaft, cooperating mechanism on-said main shaft and secondary shaft for driving the latter by the former either at medium speed or at low speed as desired, cooperating means on said secondary shaft and said work shaft for-driving the latter by the former, shipping mechanism provided with means for simultaneously coupling together the work shaft and secondary shaft and also the main shaft and the secondary shaft at either speed desired, and means constructed and operating to disconnect said work shaft and secondary shaft whenever the latter is disconnected-from the main shaft.

2!. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a main shaft. 21 work shaft in line therewith ands secondary shaft parallel to said other two shafts, and three sets of connecting' mechanisms for high speed, medium speed and low speed or reverse respectively, each set including a \laicrnlly shiitable portion, and, combined with a single shipping rod inithe form of a rock shaft having longitudinal movement, projecting armscarried and operate by said. rock shaft to engage direci'l said respective mechanisms for causing'said lateral shiiting movement thereof, and a swinging actuator constructed and arranged for both rocking and moving longitudinally said rock shaft.

4. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising two shafts, a collar fast on one of said shafts, a longitudinally movable sleeve adjacent said collar, said sleeve having a threaded portion, a gear hay-ng threaded engagement with said threaded portion, a clutch member on said shaft to cooperate withsaid gear, a toggle between said collar and said sleeve, 0. laterally shiftable member for operating said toggle to shift said sleeve, and a second gear normally out of mesh with the first mentioned gear and mounted on thc brought into mesh with each other by the shifting movement of said toggle.

5. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a maih drive shaft, a secondaryshait, a collar fast on the latter, a longitudinally movable sleeve adjacent said collar, said sleeve having a threaded portion, a gear having threaded engagement with said threaded portion, a clutch member on said shaft to cooperate. with said gear,. a toggle between said collar and said sleeve, 8 laterally shiftabic member for operating said toggle to separate said sleeve from said collar, a gear on said drive shaft n'or maily out of mesh with the gear on said secondary shaft, said two gears being brought. into mesh with each other by the separating movement of said toggle, and yielding means forvreceiving the clutching impact of the engagement of said threaded gear with said clutch member.

6. An apparatus of he kind described, comprising a main drive shaft, a secondary shaft, a collar fast on the latter, a longitudinally movable sleeve adjacent said collar, said sleevehaving a threaded portion, a gear having threaded engagement with said threaded portion, a. clutch member on said shaft to cooperate with said gear; a toggle between said collar and said sleeve, 11 laterally shii'tablc member for operating said toggle to scpara'te said sleeve from said collar, a gear on said drive sh ft normally out of mesh with the gear on said secondar; shaft, said two gears being brought into mesh with each other by the separating movement of said toggle, yielding means for receiving the clutching impact of the engagement of said threaded gear with said clutch member, and alitt dmatic means between said clutch member and said threaded gear for automatically unscrewing the latter frol'lrengage meat with said clutch membei'jriwhen said two stars are separated.

7. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising in main drive shaft, a secondary shaft, a coliartast on the latter, a longitudinally movable sleeve adjacent said collar, said sleeve having a threaded portion, a gear having threaded engagement with said threaded portion, a clutch member on said shaft to cooperate with said gear, a toggle between said collar and said sleeve, a laterally shiftable member for operating said toggle to separate said sleeve from said collar, a gear on said drive shaft normally out of mesh with the gear on said secondary shaft, said two gears being brought into mesh with each other by the separating movement of said toggle, yielding means for receiving the clutching impact of the engagement 01' said threaded gear with said clutch member, and means for regulating the tension of said yielding means.

8. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a drive shaft. a secondary shaft and clutching mechanism for connecting the two in driving relation. including a gear fast on one shaft. a sleeve mounted to rotate with the other shaft and freely movable longitudinally thereof, said slce'vc having a threaded portion, a gear mounted to travel on said threaded portion for engagement with said fixed gear, a. clutch member mounted coaxially of said threaded portion to be cngagcdby its gear, and yielding means for receiving the clutching impact.

9. An apparatus of the kind described, comprising a drive shaft, 11 secondary shaft and clutching mechanism for connecting the two in driving relation, including a gear fast on one shaft, a sleeve mounted to rotate with the other shaft and freely movable longitudinally thereof, sald sleeve having a threaded portion provided with line threads, :1 gear mounted to travel on said threaded portion for engagement with said fixed gear, and a clutch member mounted coaxiaily of said threaded portion to be engaged by its gear, said fine threads afiording slow l'atcral movement with relation to said sleeve and permitting a large circumferential travel of-the engaging gear before coming into clutching contact with said clutching member.

in testimony whereof, I have signcdmy name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY O. FLElClil'IR.

Witnesses:

Wu. J. PIKE, M. J. SI'ALUING- 

